On a regular basis, I get emails concerning jewelry makers who are trying to sell their jewelry through a web site. A typical question I get asked will be something like, “I set up my web site five weeks ago to sell my jewelry, but I haven’t sold one piece in all of that time! What am I doing wrong? Please, look at my site and tell me what is wrong with it!”
Now, because I have never claimed to be a web site expert, I make it a policy not to review other people’s web sites. However, without even looking at a site from someone like this, I can tell you what is wrong. In fact, here is the answer I recently sent in answer to just such an email:
Hi,
I make it a policy not to critique people’s site because I am no expert on web design. However, without even looking at it, I can tell you just by the information you included in your email that it has nothing to do with the site design or the jewelry design. A few weeks on the Internet is like the blink of an eye. I wouldn’t expect to get much traffic for at least 3 to 6 months and nothing significant for a year. This is true with any web site but even more so with jewelry because there are so many people selling jewelry on line.
If you still want to continue to try selling on line, I would suggest trying a few things that will slowly help you build traffic. First, consider getting an etsy store and connecting it to the site. Etsy is full too, but the more links in the better. Plus, it is a good place to get to know other artists and learn from them. Another thing to consider is starting a weblog as part of the site and updating regularly. This way you can have regular site updates that search engines may notice, and at the same time, you can build a customer base and educate them about your jewelry.
There are lots of other things to do like search engine optimization, but like I said, I’m no web design expert. I’ve been writing on-line for 10 years, so that’s why I say it takes awhile. I’ve never heard of anyone being an overnight success on-line. It just doesnt happen unless you are someone famous or have some connection to someone famous. Just like a real store off-line, it takes a long time to establish yourself. Selling jewelry is very tough. There is a huge amount of competition. So, you should not feel discouraged or take any of it personally if it takes time to sell your jewelry on-line.
So, do you have a web site where you sell your jewelry? If so, have you found that it takes time to build a following?
Me, before the show.
Alan modelling “Millenium Arrow.”
Kathlyn wearing “Caribbean Cool.”
Jessica models “Prickly Beauty.”
Alyssa models “Blagic Magic.”
Marlow models “Diadem” fantastically.
Marlow wearing “Diadem.”
Me, waving in the finale.
Amparo and I posing before the live auction. She is wearing “Catalina’s Quest.”
Be BOLD.
Miachelle